Google has over the years supported website owners with their analytics tool, which helps in tracking website traffic, landing pages, pageviews, bounce rates, and so on.
Google Analytics is damn powerful. It provides the best insights that website owners need to fully optimize every aspect of their business.
Though it’s free, convenient and quite a great tool for tracking website visitors, but some still believe it’s not the best solution for them – and certainly not for everybody.
And why is it so?
i). Complexity: Google Analytics tool can provide you with an awesome report if you require an in-depth one, but for some people, it’s too complex.
As a result of this, most people prefer to use some of the Google analytics alternative tools that are easier to use.
ii). Confidentiality: Using Google Analytics tool equally gives Google access to your data which could mean a tangible exchange for the service they offer. And this, most people don’t seem to like.
A report shows the rate of vulnerability of websites, which is something you must have to consider when choosing an analytics tool.
iii). Right of ownership: Truth is, Google Analytics users are also at the mercy of Google since they can easily access your data.
However, there are some self-hosted platforms that are more likely to keep your data secured and still provide you with both free and premium solutions.
Let’s consider a few of these Google Analytics Alternative Tools:
1). Chartbeat
Chartbeat is a good alternative to Google Analytics. It offers real-time analytical reports. In fact, it offers insights on engagement metrics, social media reports, and traffic analysis. And these can be achieved by simply embedding two snippets of codes onto your website.
With Chartbeat you can easily monitor your top links, search keywords and virtually everything about your traffic like where it’s coming from, what your visitors are doing, how they behave, how long they stay on the site, and finally how far they go down each page.
The interesting thing about this tool is that it offers a pay-as-you-use plan without any binding contract. Therefore it’s a lot easier to cancel your account when it no longer meets your business goal.
2). Foxmetrics
This is another analytics platform that offers a broad range of features for effective website tracking and optimization.
Are you looking for an analytic tool that is robust and easy-to-use at the same time?
You should consider using Foxmetrics.
It’s best for customizing and segmenting reports, focused on data, surveys, and feedback you want to track.
And since it supports real-time website customization, even when your visitors are using your site, you can easily present them with what they’re searching for at that particular time.
You can also boost your customer retention with its advanced retention reports. You get to see how long your visitors stayed, and what keeps bringing them back to your site.
With such a powerful information right under your nose, you can turn your site into a traffic pool with great lead conversion rate. Don’t you think it’s possible?
3). Mixpanel
Are you always on the move and needs an analytic tool by your side?
Use Mixpanel and enjoy a detailed report on your mobile anytime and anywhere.
Mixpanel is a unique tool that’s worth relying on because of its compatibility with mobile and the web. It helps you to track what your visitors are actually doing on your site, and whether they’re new or repeat visitors.
So, it’s easier to build a good converting site by optimizing it based on your visitor’s behavior. However, it allows you to set it up to either provide a simple but powerful reports on actions you want to monitor.
An exceptional feature about Mixpanel is that it comes with a comprehensive data segmentation practice that targets your site visitors through a chain of questions, in order to ascertain the cause of their behavior whilst they’re still on your website.
With its mobile app, you can easily access your site’s metrics which include funnel reporting, customer notifications, A/B testing at anytime and anywhere.
4). Clicky
Clicky is a decoy of Google analytic tool which offers a variety of information about your website, in a much simpler and easy to understand format.
So if you’re not interested in an in-depth data, but still wants a comprehensive idea of your site performance and where changes are needed – this tool is definitely for you.
You just have to pay a token to get the best with this tool which will provide you with up-time monitoring and heatmap tracking, which Google Analytics doesn’t offer.
But still, with the free plan, you can enjoy real-time statistics, content, search, referral tracking, and individual user events tracking.
5). KISSmetrics
KISSmetrics is popularly known for its interesting blog posts by many, but only a few knows about their analytics tool. In fact, it aims at getting a personal touch, as long as site analysis is concerned.
The folks behind KISSmetrics try as much as possible to provide its users with a detailed behavioral pattern. When you’re armed with this sorts of insights, increasing your site conversion and customer retention is doable.
You can optimize your site from any angle and increase your revenue in a short time with this awesome tool. Because it offers a comprehensive funnel reports, A/B split testing, revenue reports, and behavior path reports.
6). Jetpack
This is a free WordPress plugin that most website owners use, yet, not many of its users know of its analytic report feature.
Jetpack allows you to measure your traffic rate and its sources, your most trending posts and pages. You can also monitor stats on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. And even, verify all-time views with a total number of comments.
7). AW Stats
AW Stats is a real-time log analyzer that allows its users to monitor their page views, visitor information, bots visits, browser information, OS information, and lots more.
AWStats is built in the office server as an alternative in providing real time report. This information is aimed at helping you adjust your marketing campaigns based on the reports provided by the tool.
This tracking tool is of a great benefit to most marketers who are on a shoestring budget.
8). Piwik
Though Piwik analytic tool shares some similar features with Google analytics tool, but it doesn’t host your data – but rather it allows you to host them on your own server.
And based on its privacy provision, it’s mostly recommended for most privacy-minded site owners. Therefore, if you’re a privacy-minded marketer, this tool will serve you.
9). Heap
Heap analytics comes with a user-friendly interface that allows you to easily set up tracking for the most relevant events on your website.
The only seemingly difficulty in using this tool is installing the tracking code on your website, every other thing is a click away.
Heap is customized to provide you with useful data you need, unlike what you get from Google Analytics.
10). StatCounter
StatCounter is designed to provide you with real-time data on your first time visitors, existing visitors, page views, returning visitors, etc., using their log and cookies.
In fact, it ensures that you’re provided with the accurate reports you need for optimum marketing success.
11). Open Web Analytics (or OWA)
Open Web Analytics is a free open source web stats solution and a self-hosted analytics tool which is offered as a WordPress plugin – Though it’s installed separately and independently from WordPress.
It can also be used to monitor more than one websites and still provides the relevant data needed in a single dashboard.
It even provides heat maps and mouse tracking.
12). Inspectlet
Inspectlet is a fantastic tool that provides you with all the necessary data you need to boost your website performance.
It captures videos of your site visitors as they use your site, which gives you detailed data on everything they do on your site.
It works with an intelligent technology that records the site’s use through the eyes of the visitor. And with such data, you can place your call to action in the area where visitors pay more attention.
13). W3Counter
W3Counter is a great website tracking solution that comes with a user-friendly interface and requires no technical training.
With just a click you can quickly view real-time stats, a map showing the geographical location of your visitors, as well as discover your top entry and exit pages.
It also allows you to know where most of your website visitors click through is coming from.
14). Gauges
Gauges provides the most relevant data needed for a better website performance in a simple and easy to understand format.
From a single dashboard, you can get a summary report on multiple websites. And also get to see an overview of your most viewed posts and top referrer for the last 12 hours, daily traffic for the last two weeks.
It comes with a great feature known as Air Traffic Live view, which automatically updates the live geo-locations of your visitors.
15). GoSquared
Gosquared comes with a dashboard that can be split into three major categories which includes live stats, historical data, and e-commerce data. More importantly, it shows an instant overview of website activity over a period of time (say 3 months).
It has a dashboard where you can view daily, weekly and monthly comparisons of historical data and get an insight on the most viewed pages on your website and best sources of traffic.
Last but not least, the eCommerce category shows reports on sales, sales revenue, the average value per sale and the top referrer that generated the most converting leads.
In fact, it gathers large data from a variety of sources and presents it in an easy to understand format.
16). Adobe Analytics
Are you dealing with a large website?
If yes, then Adobe Analytics is perfect for tracking the performance of a large website with thousands of pages.
This analytics tool comes in both mobile and desktop view, which allows you to get a real-time report on your site anytime, anywhere.
Though this tool is meant to serve big companies due to its complex features that can only be best utilized by big companies that really require a lot of segmentation on very specific data.
It also provides real-time automation and decision making tools.
17). Woopra
Woopra allows you to track data on your website, email, apps and more. It provides real-time analytics, much like the other Google Analytics alternative tools on this list.
Aside from the obvious features that you can expect, Woopra also creates customer profiles which allows you to see the activity of individual customers rather than just the anonymous data.
There are both free and paid options depending on the number of actions you plan to use.
Conclusion
There you’ve it, a detailed list on Google Analytics alternative tools for website owners.
While Google Analytics is still the ultimate tool, you may want a change of tool that will suit your specific needs at every given time.
Choosing the right analytic tool for your website depends heavily on your overall marketing goals and what your intended metrics are.
You’ll agree with me that it’s encouraging to know that there are various options, both free and premium solutions that will get you the best website performance reports.